Thursday, January 19, 2017

"Paddle8, the online auction house which merged with now-embattled competitor Auctionata last May, has secured an investor to buy it out for an undisclosed amount ..." (UPDATED)

". . . while its parent company Auctionata AG has filed for preliminary insolvency, representatives for both firms confirmed today."

UPDATE:  Tim Schneider:  "Auctionata and Paddle8's ... difficulties suggest that the real flaw here is the midlevel digital-auction business itself. All the signs suggest that the market niche just isn't growing fast enough to sustain these two firms, either independently or combined. So regardless of whether Auctionata re-capitalizes or Paddle8 buys its freedom, it's plausible that neither will be long for this world. Online auctions––and online art sales more generally––may be the future. But sometimes the future is still too distant to save us."